Professional soccer is coming to Taiwan, with the Asia Football Confederation (AFC) backing the plan through its “Kick Off” program, Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) secretary-general Wang Sheau-shiun (王筱薰) announced yesterday.
Kick Off provides assistance on management and marketing of national leagues to AFC member associations
“We are looking at two years for planning, followed by three years of preparation. Taiwan’s professional soccer league will then start in 2018,” he said.
“Right now, the biggest challenges we face are facilities and financial support,” Wang said. “It is a basic requirement for pro soccer clubs to have their own home ground, under their own management.”
He said negotiations are underway with the Sports Administration to build stadiums in northern Taiwan for the 2017 World University Games, to be held in Taipei, which can put to use as home grounds for soccer clubs when the games end.
“Financial support and sponsorship will not be a big problem,” Wang said. “If the big business conglomerates in Taiwan are not interested, I’m sure we can find investors from the international financial market.”
“In terms of standard of living, economy and geographic distribution of population, we see that Taiwan has all the conditions necessary to develop a top-class pro soccer league,” he said.
The AFC’s Kick Off program has already approved implementation in 11 member associations: Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The CTFA will become the first association in East Asia to implement the AFC program, Wang said.
The AFC announced that its Vision Asia Committee had approved the CTFA’s application to join the confederation’s Kick Off development program on March 12 in Kuala Lumpur.
In his address at the meeting, AFC acting president Zhang Jilong said the Kick Off program is the start of a long journey, and asked member associations to concentrate on developments that will help the AFC to achieve world-class standards.
Wang said developments began when he attended an AFC meeting earlier this year and discussed the idea of setting up a professional league in Taiwan with the head of the AFC’s development section, Kaita Sugihara. With Sugihara’s help and the endorsement of other AFC officials, the CTFA was able to gain inclusion in the Kick Off program.
An “outstanding” 17-year-old Chinese badminton player died of cardiac arrest after collapsing on court during a tournament in Indonesia, officials said yesterday. Zhang Zhijie was playing a match late Sunday against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The score was 11-11 in the first game when Zhang fell to the floor between points. The teenager received treatment at the venue and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, but passed away later that night after repeated efforts to resuscitate him failed. “Medical conclusions ... indicated that the victim experienced sudden cardiac arrest,” Broto Happy, spokesman for
Taiwan will have two pairs vying for the women’s doubles at the Olympic Games’ tennis event in Paris as Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and her older sister Latisha Chan (詹詠然) officially clinched their third straight Olympic berth, the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association said Thursday. According to the association, the International Tennis Federation confirmed Wednesday evening the Chan sisters’ qualification for the event, meaning they will join the duo of Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Tsao Chia-yi (曹家宜) to compete in the quadrennial sports jamboree. There are 16 entries in each doubles event. Hsieh, ranked No. 2 in the world on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
ONE GAME LEFT: ‘We 100 percent believe that this is the team,’ Kagiso Rabada said when asked if this team could end South Africa’s long World Cup drought A long, tortuous World Cup title drought is closer than ever to ending for South Africa after a nine-wicket win over first-time semi-finalist Afghanistan at the global T20 World Cup cricket tournament on Wednesday. Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada set the foundations for the lopsided victory with destructive opening bursts of pace bowling to have Afghanistan reeling at 20-4 in the fourth over, and eventually all out for a paltry 56. The South Africans lost just one wicket in pursuit of its first semi-final win at a global men’s limited-overs tournament, with Reeza Hendricks hitting a six and a four on consecutive
Taiwan is to have two pairs vying for the women’s doubles at the Olympic Games’ tennis event in Paris as Chan Hao-ching and her older sister Latisha Chan officially clinched their third straight Olympic berth, the national tennis association said on Thursday. The International Tennis Federation on Wednesday evening confirmed the Chan sisters’ qualification for the event, meaning they would join the duo of Hsieh Su-wei and Tsao Chia-yi to compete in the Olympics. There are 16 entries in each doubles event. Hsieh, ranked No. 2 in the world on the Women’s Tennis Association doubles rankings as of Monday, secured her slot earlier,